Assistant Professor of Argumentation

Mon Apr 7 14:40:20 UTC 2014

Dear members of the Discourse  Studies List,

The Faculty of Communication Sciences of the Università della Svizzera italiana invites applications for an  Assistant professor of Argumentation (with tenure track) in the Institute of Argumentation, Linguistics and Semiotics (IALS).

FACULTY AND INSTITUTE PROFILE
The Faculty of Communication Sciences is characterized by a strong focus on research and a commitment to high teaching standards. It offers a young and dynamic context, highly international and interdisciplinary, studying communication from many complementary viewpoints, both when it comes to disciplines as well as when it comes to application fields (for more info visit the website: www.com.usi.ch).
The research of the Institute of Argumentation, Linguistics and Semiotics (IALS) is centered in particular on the engagement of argumentation and rhetoric in communicative practices in specific contexts such as financial communication, media, and public communication.
Research and teaching activities of IALS include: (i) the reconstruction and evaluation of argumentation in different forms of discourse and different social contexts of
communication, (ii) the semantic and pragmatic analysis of discourse and dialogue in relation to the linguistic resources deployed, (iii) the integration of verbal and non-verbal semiotic resources within multimodal and multimedia communication strategies.

CANDIDATE PROFILE
The ideal candidate:
- Has obtained a PhD in the Humanities or Social Sciences with a focus on Argumentation;
- Combines strong theoretical foundations with a commitment to research on socially relevant contexts of communicative interaction;
- Has one or more of the following strengths:
   o has a deep knowledge of specific professional and organizational practices;
   o analyzes historically significant discourse corpora and case studies;
   o engages in the critical evaluation of argumentation in context and in the highlighting of best-practices;
   o develops or applies argumentation-based technologies to solve real problems;
   o analyzes argumentation designs and protocols aimed at maximizing the quality of decisions and interaction;
   o reflects upon the educational, civic and governance implications of argumentation studies.

JOB DESCRIPTION AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The candidate is expected to:
- publish in international outlets;
- acquire research funds from the Swiss National Science Foundation and/or similar institutions, and conduct competitive research;
- teach courses on a Bachelor, Master and PhD level (the teaching workload of an assistant professor encompasses 9 ECTS);
- Supervise PhD theses;
- participate actively in the work of the Faculty Council and related ad-hoc committees.

RESIDENCE AND LANGUAGE
The University and its core instructional programs are located in Lugano, in the Italianspeaking area of Switzerland. As a full-time faculty member, the successful candidate will be expected to be in residence at least four days a week. Most of the Faculty's graduate programs are taught fully in English or partly in English. Undergraduate courses are taught in Italian. Fluency in at least one of the Swiss languages is appreciated and fluency in Italian is required by the third year at a level that enables teaching in the Bachelor.

SALARY AND CONTRACT
The offered salary is highly competitive and is defined based on rank, experience and qualifications. The terms of the contract are defined by the University Statutes
(http://www.usi.ch/en/struttura_legale.htm).

APPLICATION
Please send your complete application in digital form (containing motivation letter, curriculum vitae, list of publications, copies of up to five representative publications, and the names of three references) to the following address:

Università della Svizzera italiana
Faculty of Communication Sciences
Prof. Lorenzo Cantoni - Dean
Via Giuseppe Buffi 13
CH-6904 Lugano
E-mail: concorsi.com at usi.ch

DEADLINE
Applications received by end of April 2014 will be given priority. The University reserves the right not to make an appointment. Start date will be in the academic year 2014/2015.
Since USI aims to increase the percentage of women in research and teaching, women academics are particularly encouraged to apply.

For more detailed information, please contact the director of the IALS, Prof. Andrea Rocci (andrea.rocci at usi.ch<mailto:andrea.rocci at usi.ch>).

With kind regards, on behalf of the IALS team,

Silvia De Ascaniis, PhD
****************************************************
Argupolis Pro*Doc (program coordinator), http://www.argupolis.net<http://www.argupolis.net/>
IALS - Institute of Argumentation, Linguistics and Semiotics
Faculty of Communication Sciences
University of Lugano - USI, Switzerland - www.usi.ch<http://www.usi.ch/>
Tel. +41 58 666 4791

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